On Friday evening, three successive stories on EPSN were about an NFL quarterback charged with running an illegal dogfighting ring, an FBI investigation into whether an NBA referee illegally bet on games he called, and the notorious Barry Bonds being booed as he approached baseball’s all-time home run record.
Bonds, as many know, is at the center of baseball’s steroids scandal and could soon be indicted.
The stories reminded me of the never-ending scandals in
Baseball is probably the best example in sports. As steroid use increased several years ago, what journalist who intimately covered professional baseball wasn’t aware of the growing biceps and other signs of the drug? Who really believes league and team officials didn’t notice? What about the fans?
Some didn’t want to acknowledge problems in the game they love, but many turned the other way because they stood to gain financially. Unchecked power corrupted skilled baseball players and damaged the game.
Is it any different in
Following several decades of one-party control of most pockets of state government, the number of Democrats who have been convicted, indicted or at the center of scandals in recent years is equally stunning.
Lord Acton wisely observed 120 years ago that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Our nation’s founding fathers understood this truth and designed a system of government that places checks on power in an attempt to ensure that no branch of government or public official becomes too powerful.
Some try to work around or push their way through those checks. Gov. Bill Richardson, who many would argue has allowed himself to be corrupted by campaign contributions and his thirst for the presidency, wrote in his book “Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life” that he disagrees with
“Any freely elected politician who says he doesn’t crave power to get the laws and programs he thinks best for his city, state, or nation is either dissembling or belongs in a different business,” he wrote.
Our nation’s founders knew that men and women with such ego – people who believe they are incorruptible – would be drawn to public office. Hence the checks and balances.
The most important checks on government, however, are citizens and the media. Citizens are becoming increasingly disengaged because they’re discouraged by the scandals and the influence corporations have over government. Most mainstream media outlets are owned by corporations and spend more time writing about Britney and “Brangelina” than they do scrutinizing serious issues.
In our corporate-driven democracy, the media and government, like sports, are increasingly about the bottom line. As a result, our system of government, which is supposed to be of, by and for the people, is instead too often about the dollars being offered by and sought for campaign contributors.
Something has to change.
A version of this article was published today in the Albuquerque Tribune. I write a column for the newspaper that runs on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.